Refractory lining for domestic furnaces



Dec. 4, 1951 w. N. BUTTERWORTH REFRACTORY LINING FOR DOMESTIC FURNACESSHEETS-SHEET l Filed May 5, 1948 3rmentoi,

Will/am AZ 13 uzzer worfh, u

attorney Dec. 4, 1951 W. N. BUTTERWORTH REFRACTORY LINING FQR DOMESTICFURNACES 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed May 5, 1948 Gttomeg Patented Dec. 4, 1951REFRACTORYLINING FOR DOMESTIC FURNACES William N. Butterworth, ShakerHeights, Ohio, assignor to General Refractories Company,

Philadelphia, Pa., a co vania rporation of Pennsyl- Application May s,1948, Serial No, 24,834

The object of the invention is to provide improvements in refractorylinings for furnaces, and more specially in the burner and runner bricksor tiles which line the fire box or combustion chamber of a domestic orsimilarly small furnace.

In most furnaces of this broad class fuel oil is injected into the firebox in a substantially atomized condition under pressure, in'order thatthe oil being in a semi-gaseous or vaporous state will readily unitewith the air and contribute its heat of combustion to the heat-absorbingsurfaces of the furnaces. However, except under the most idealcircumstances the oil vapor frequently carries with it small globules ofoil in unvaporized or liquid form, while during the initial period offiring, when the furnace is still at least relatively cold, theprevalence of such globules much more pronounced. Furthermore, as eachof said globules is ignited and consumed from its outer ,surfaceinwardly, instead of by instantaneous combustion as in the case of morevolatile liquids such as gasolene, it requires an appreciable time forsuch burning to take place, and being in the usual forced draft of sucha furnace a portion of theliquid phase of oil is carried partially oreven entirely up the chimney during and before completion of itscombustion. In order to ignite such globules and even the more finelysubdivided vapor particles, so that substantially complete combustiontakes place within the firebox, anda minimum of resulting heat iscarried wastefully up the stack or chimney, efforts are constantly beingmade to provide as quickly as possible and maintain incandescentsurfaces against which the oil impinges, whether in liquid, vapor orgaseous form, whereby when such fuel comes into direct contact with suchhigh temperature surfaces it will be thereby instantly ignited andconsumed while still within the fire box with the aid of theoxygen-laden air that is present in the draft. Under such conditions,not only is less fuel wasted and more effective heat realized, butlittle or no soot is deposited under the cooler parts of the furnace andchimney .to cover and insulate the same and simultaneously produce afire hazard.

Another object therefore is to provide .a typeof refractory brick ortiles having a radially inwardly directed surface that is characterizedby spaced lugs, which maybe of anydesired shape, size and arrangement,but which preferably have relatively small terminal or other portionsthat readily attain incandescence almost immediately upon ignition ofthe first fuel to beinjected into the fire box, and which thereaftercontinue in such state of incandescence as long as the cons on ofuelfcon ch l gs mayb 2 Claims. (01. 1'5s-,-1)

of any desired shape, but preferably taper inwardly away from theirsupporting Wall as in the shape of cones, pyramids, or frustums of thesame and while they may be substantially equally spaced upon the surfaceof said supporting wall, may instead be more closely arranged within aspace that forms the target area for the burner and is approximatelyconcentric therewith.

A further object is to provide a substantially cylindrical, or at leasta peripherally closed arrangement of runner tile or brick which isbroken only by the interposition of a single brick (or a pair ofadjacent bricks) having an aperture through which the usual burnerextends or projects, and by means of which the fuel is injected into theinterior of said arrangement or assembly, and said runner tile beingprovided with the inwardly directed preferably tapering lugs which whenheated to a high temperature radiate their heat upwardly through andfrom the upper open end of the assembly to the heat-absorbing surfacesof the furnace above the same. It is to be understood that instead ofthe injection of fuel by means of a pressure or other burner through theaperture referred to, the hollow assembly of lug-carrying tiles maysurround a rotary burner of the type employed in some installations, inwhich case the fuel projected by such burner is still directedsubstantially horizontally against a circumferentially extending areaupon the inner lugged surfaces of the said tile, and in such case it isunnecessary to include one or more apertured tile as in the case of theso-called guntype burners. In either such construction, arrangement andrelationship of burner and tile, a high degree of turbulence is createdin the intermixed fuel and air, as, the combination thereof mushroomsagainst the lugged area of the surface of the surrounding tile.

With the objects and principles of operation thus briefly stated, theinvention comprises further details of construction, assembly andoperation hereinafter fully brought out in the following description,when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1is a front elevation of an assembled unit of the improved tilecomprising one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of thesame; Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the improved runner tile per se;Fig. 4 is an inner elevational view of the same; Fig. 5 is a plan viewof a segmental tile that comprises one-half of the base upon which thecylindrical assembly rests, the other half tile of said base beingindicated in dash and double dot lines. in order to indicate a normalassembly, ofa pair of said base tiles;

and Fig. 6 is an elevation of the base half tile shown in Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, it will be assumed that a complete assemblyof the improved tile comprises a pair of base sections,fa pair, ofburneropening tile and four runner: orssegmentaliliner or runner tiles,it being understoodthat" the'ba'se might instead comprise a single tilewhile the burner aperture might extend substantially centrally through asingle tile insteadiofybeingsrdefined by a pair of complementaryrecesses ini a pair of adjacent tiles, and that there may be any desirednumber of runnerforilinertile,depending upon the internal diameterfjofithe furnacei'iie box, the thickness of said tile and'the chords foundto be most economical. V y

In the present example of construction and assembly, each of the tile ofsaid base comprises a semi-circular bottom portion l, upon which issuperimposed a semi-"circular upwardly extending integralprojec'tion'2,1providing a semi circu- .laix shoulder 3 that is sufficientlyremoved"ra .-dially inwardly from the corresponding portion of 'theperiphery ofsaid bottom portion 'to' provide a correspondingly.semi-circular supporting "surfaceA for the lower end 5 ofthe said runner.til'es when assembled thereon. Thus, a pair of these basetiles wheneaohis. 180 in-extent cooperate to provideha complete circular. base,asindicated Hbyboth the solid and broken lines in Fig; 5.

In. the design. herein illustrated, two complementary burner tiles 6 areshown, each being provided with a semi-circular cutout I which inpractice cooperate to. provide a so-called burner opening through whichat least thelnozzleof-a .gun-typeburner. normally-v extends, or throughwhich in-any case fuelis injectedunder pressure into the interior ofthe-tile assembly. It should be understood that whereas most furnacestoday employ liquid fuel, .suchsasra medium-1 grade of fuel oil, that isforced into -the-fire-box f-rom a small nozzle orificeunder-sufiicientpressureto atomize it, gasmay be used instead, while itis possible to usefinely powdered coal dust.

The lining of the fire box comprises other than said burner tiles,;aplurality of segmental .tiles 1 8 --:that cooperatewith said burnertiles andwith-one another, each of these tiles beingprovided upon itsradially, inner-surface with'a plurality of lugs "9 that-are formedintegrally with ther'bodyrof ,the tile and whichare preferably-ofsuch.-shape:;and inward taper as toyoffer a terminal portion 10f-relatively low volume that extends wells-into: the

interior of the hollow; cylinder =when-=the :tiles are-assembled, andaccordingly :into :the region ofagre'atest heat of the swirling Jgasesofz combustion, with the-result that these? terminal portions of thelugs attain incandescence-uponbeing encountered by the flame. from the"burner, and at the same time accelerate the rise in tempera- -,tureofthe inner surfaceof-the body of the-tiles,

'in'addition to effecting-a substantial increase in the surface area of'the tiles, thereby: providing high-temperature surf ace areas.whichmaterially :aidin igniting thefuel' as it impinges thereupon.

In the case'of fuel oil, itis only under the m'ost ideal conditionsthatlthe :liquid 1 is thoroughly atomized as it enters the tiledenclosure of the f re boxafter the" latter has become thoroughlyheated'and combustion'is considered substantially perfect and-even insuch installations combustion' is far from a perfect while the:liningand generalfrfurnace interior are still at:v a low temperature;aswhen starting the furnace. flurther- I m'o-re, lthe .1 best burnerinstallations vdeteriorat s5 e4m g g s -w anii a saidsassembiyfsaid 5 aspossible when conditions are less than the degree {if ppei'fec'tiondesired, realizing that when "conditions arecorrect*the-'"combustionwill con- ...tinue to be .no less efiicient than initially.

It has long been realized that perhaps all fuels al 1;.2iIid fcer-tainly:f-uel oil are ignited and burned imuch more rapidly, and therefore withless tendencytowards incomplete combustion and result- "ling;smbkeiand;soot, if brought into more or less "directgcontacts i'than incandescent surface, and

that it isde sirable' to provide such incandescence as soon as possibleafter fuel is first directed into *a -relatively -cool fire boxinterior; also that if such: incandescent surfaces could be made of ashape to create and-:maintain turbulence and.therebhaccelerate.the'intermingling of the .gasi- 1 f'fiedffuel andvvincoming airfthe' conrpletewom- .biustion'f; ofiithe" ruerwould be"considerably more "fnearly, instantaneous; 'withi proportionately less ifuellwa'stjediuplthe stack "or, chimney; and less ac- 2 viciimulationlof soot resulting.

.A'Accoidinglyfthe. radially inner surfacepof'each 16f, the, runnerstile. is providedlwithj both vertically an'd horizontallepacedfinwardly,projecting lugs, j teats. or. knobs, which-may. beofshbstaxitiatllyuhiliformand regular-arrangement over the surface ofLthe ltile,., or instead mayl be more closely, arranged.,-at;.that,gpo'r'tion of the area of said tile ildirectlysopposite-and in, generalalignment with Tithe burnersopening. TIniFig; 1 the concentration .1of.suclilugsis shared byltwoadj acent runner tile,

ibeingZ-bisected' by the verticahiointbetween. said stiles while in"Figs.l .3 ,and- -.-4 such... concentration .-is-Shown-as:being locatedsubstantially centrally Yoftthe single tile there shown.

40 flhe joints between-ad j acent tiles .are preferably-..irreg-ular-.in-shape, isoasLto therebynverlap wand l prevent itheescape of ---high temperature ,gases aradiallya outwardly, past! thetile and into direct ;contact l-with-z'the= innermetallic surfaces. ofthe .ijemtsamaygbeof whatever-form: isidesired each w isherashownas;comprising-a radially-outenldiagnally extendingz-section -10thataterminates inrdly sine-a ishort,*circumferentially extendingecticnfl F'f'EOmTW'hiCh BJ radialgsection lZ-termiatesainwardlysati'the:inner surface of :theeadjaentitiles-the angular joinhsurfacessof one:side no: -::e.ach= segmental atile zbeingtcomplementary to'ithamofutheztile nextadiacent-tthereto.

- #Whemadaptinglthe inventionrto'rota-ry burners,

'rinozfrontaliaperture:is providedi as the rotarweleentzrevolves 'nponja verticali-axis';centrally disposed e-within t the riflre :box, so;that i-the =.:flame trikeszlthe lini'ng tiles'; in .asubstantiallyscircular me of nniform elevation;:andZ-imthat case the ugsmayibeiarrangedimore;closelyetogether about rthdnternali'periphery ofthe lining atian' elevaioniintermdia-tez thetvertical' limits '.0f therunner cm es,swhich in such zaicaseiconstitute the entire no.oass'emb'ly, :isince no flso called hurner tiles l are tiles through atleast a major portion of said assembly being provided with radiallyinwardly directed tapering lugs that tend to incandesce in and by virtueof the heat of the flame of burning fuel, said lugs being more closelygrouped together in an area diametrically opposite said opening.

2. A hollow refractory lining for the firebox of a furnace having aburner-opening in one side, and comprising a plurality of tiles having ajoint substantially opposite said opening, a major portion of the innersurface of said lining being provided with inwardly taperingincandescable cones,

said cones being more closely grouped together in an area diametricallyopposite said opening and upon the opposite sides of said joint.

WILLIAM N. BUTTERWORTH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Pfau. May 20, 1873 Krebs Dec. 19,1916 Doble Aug. 19, 1919 Gates June 1, 1920 Bean June 27, 1922 EdwardsJuly 2, 1929 Roberts Aug. 20, 1929 Ticehurst June 7, 1932 Wetherbee July25, 1933 Beckett Aug. 8, 1933 Passino Jan. 22, 1985 Macchi Mar. 15, 1938Miller Mar. 5, 1940 Steele July 16, 1940

